Healing is what happens when Pastoral Practitioners minister, enabling people to receive restoration to health of body and mind through God's great love and mercy. This restoration of health is part of what is meant by the "abundant life" which the Lord promised.

Microscopic organisms can do amazing stuff. Yeast is instrumental in baking bread and brewing beer. Bacteria make yogurt. And now, thanks to synthetic biology, they might be the key that unlocks a revolutionary treatment for type 1 diabetes.

“Bacteria are excellent at doing things, and we understand these things,” says Dr. Yo Suzuki, a synthetic biologist at the J. Craig Venter Institute. “And one of those things we are exploring is if we can get bacteria to produce insulin.”

Time Magazine reported that this week marks one year since world leaders met at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in 2016 and unanimously committed to tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The risks of not doing so were clear: a recent report estimated that if AMR continued to spread at its current rate, there would be up to 10 million deaths globally by 2050.

Researchers are crediting the gut microbiota, a community of microorganisms in the body’s digestive tract, with the ability to help prevent such serious conditions as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and bowel disease. Now, new research points to the possibility that beneficial gut bacteria may help combat cardiovascular disease as well.
In fact, when it comes to protecting your heart, the maintenance of healthy gut bacteria could be one of the most underrated and overlooked factors for cardiovascular health.

Washing your clothes may not be as harmless as you might imagine. Detergents deposit toxic chemicals in your washing machine, on your clothes and into the environment. However, on the opposite side, wearing clothing riddled with bacteria and soaked in sweat is not a healthy answer either.

A 31-year-old man from Texas died after contracting flesh-eating bacteria through a new leg tattoo while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a paper published in the medical journal BMJ Case Reports, the patient – who was only identified as a Hispanic man – was admitted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas with severe pain in both legs and feet. He also had fever, chills, and a reddening over his tattoo and other areas of his skin.

Sanjay Gupta, Jun 1, 2016
Nearly 50 million Americans get sick every year from eating food contaminated with bacteria, parasites, or viruses. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 128,000 of these cases require hospitalization and 3,000 result in death.